UK PC download chart to launch next month

A closed beta has been running for a few months now, but the general public will finally be able to view the data from February.

A number of key industry players have contributed to getting the chart - which is the first of its kind - off the ground, including Disney Interactive Studios, Focus Multimedia, Get Games, Green Man Gaming, Mastertronic, NCsoft, Sega, Square-Enix, Ubisoft and Warner Bros.

There was no mention of Steam in UKIE's announcement.

"UKIE is committed to measuring the size of the digital games market and is delighted to announce that it will be launching a public Beta of the UKIE PC Download Chart in February," commented UKIE CEO Jo Twist.

"Having this digital data alongside our UKIE Games Charts for boxed products, will allow the games industry to lobby government even more effectively, and allow our members to make informed and fact based commercial decisions."

Geoff Heath, head of UKIE's Digital Group, called for more publishers to get involved with the project.

"We all hear that digital sales are growing but we don't know by how much or in which area. UKIE's PC Download Chart is a first step to getting a full understanding of where the industry is developing but this is just the beginning and we still need more input from industry. We need your data!"

UKIE, which sends out the weekly top 40 data that you see on this site every Monday, also announced its intent to get PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade charts off the ground next.